North City church reaches out to those in the cold

This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

Please enable Javascript to watch this video

ST. LOUIS - During a week of frigid temperatures some community leaders are making sure people have a safe and warm place to stay. One North St Louis Church will serve as a vital lifeline providing shelter to anyone seeking relief from the cold weather.

St. Peters AME Church in the 4700 block of Margaretta announced the opening of its doors this week to feed and house their homeless neighbors during the cold weather, “It started as a phone call and the pastor gave me a call and said alderman I want to open up the doors for the homeless,” said Alderman John Collins Mohammed.

Community leaders say the house of worship has been very busy serving those who are most in need. Those who have been using the shelter are grateful to find a warm place to escape the harsh cold.

They are also overjoyed the church sanctuary has been converted into a sanctuary for people in need filled with warmth and love, “That was extreme generous for him to be able to take in so many individuals on such a cold night,” said Eleson Boyce.

“They opened the door for me when there was no one else so I’m thankful,” said Mike Kimble.

The pastor says the need is so overwhelming on some nights there hasn’t been an empty cot. “Everybody deserves a warm place to stay at night and everybody deserves to have food in their stomach, it is part of our Christian duty to make sure nobody is hungry nobody is homeless and nobody is naked. So, when I received the call asking would I open up the church and after I prayed about it and thought about it how could I say no. I know firsthand what it feels like to be homeless and have to sleep in the cold,” said Pastor Steven Shepard.